Four teams enter play today tied for the best record in the National League – the Phillies, Cubs, Dodgers and the Mets! The Mets go for the sweep against the Rockies this afternoon before heading out west to take on the first place Dodgers.
The Mets look to build on Saturday’s display of power where Brandon Nimmo, Juan Soto and Jeff McNeil all homered in their 8-2 win over the Rockies. Thanks to offense explosion all of the Mets best high leverage relievers were able to take the afternoon off. It’s a beautiful day to sweep the Rockies!
Clay Holmes has a 2.98 ERA, 3.60 FIP, 1.243 WHIP and a 129 ERA+ over 60 1/3 innings. He allowed only one run from four hits over 5 2/3 innings in his last start against the White Sox. Holmes broke two different streaks in his last start. He had a four start streak of going at least six innings. He also had a three start streak of allowing at least one home run. We’ll take the slightly shorter start if it means he kept the ball in park! The Rockies have the following career numbers against him:
- Orlando Arcia 1-4, BB, K
- Thairo Estrada 0-1
- Kyle Farmer 1-2
- Keston Hiura 1-3
- Ryan McMahon 0-0, 2 BB
- Jacob Stallings 0-1, K
- Ezequiel Tovar 1-1
Rookie Carson Palmquist makes his fourth career start this afternoon. MLB Pipeline had him as the Rockies #8 Prospect heading into the season this year. Over his first three starts he has allowed 14 runs, 13 earned over 13 1/3 innings from 19 hits and eight walks. He’s also has had a tough draw of teams to start his career going against the Diamondbacks, Phillies and Cubs. His last start against the Cubs was pretty good, holding them to only two runs from three hits and three walks. According to MLB Pipeline, Palmquist has a low-90’s fastball with some movement and two different types of sliders.
Three Things To Watch For:
- Francisco Lindor. Saturday was Lindor’s third multi-hit game in his last four games played. Saturday afternoon Lindor went 2-for-3 with two walks. Over the series he has gone 5-for-7, getting on base seven times and scoring five times. The Mets are hitting their stride when Lindor gets on base and the hitters behind him get him home.
- Brandon Nimmo. We have a Nimmo hot streak everyone! Nimmo has a five game hit streak where he is going 8-for-19 with a double, home run, two walks and five runs scored (.421/.476/.632). He has raised his his on base percentage 20 points during this current run.
- Groundballs. Clay Holmes is somehow getting even better at producing groundballs. Hitters are producing grounders up to 55.9% of the time against him, putting him in the 91st percentile. Hitters are still hitting the ball pretty hard (44.1% hard hit percentage, 7.6 barrel %) which does get Holmes into danger sometimes. Hopefully today’s defensive alignment matches Holmes’ grounder rate.
Let’s Go Mets!
